Combustion engine



Aug. 7, 1945. A. SCHRUDER COMBUSTION ENGINE a Sheets-Shet 1 l. I. F h nul -lai llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll I I Filed April 8, 1945 .AFS- A. SCHRODER COMBUSTION ENGINE Y 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 8, 1943 V INVENTOR Anvm' x E Q v W? 2 N w/ [I Aug. 7, 1945. SCHRQDER 2,381,465

' COMBUSTION ENGINE Filed April 8, 1945 s Sheets-Sheet s IN VEN TOR. awama'mz' Patented Aug. 7,1945

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE COMBUSTION ENGINE A11. Schriider, Brooklyn, N. Y.

Application April 8, 1943, Serial No. 482,249

' Claims. (01. 123-51) This invention relates to improvements in combustion engines and particularly to the construction and arrangement of piston rods, guides, connecting rods, and crank rods, as well as scavenging systems and the adjustment of the dead spaces of opposed piston combustion motors.

An important object of my invention is to pro,- vide a compactcombustion engine of minimum weight and of high efllciency suitable for use in aeroplanes, buses, tanks, motor torpedo boats, etc;

Another object of my invention is to provide a Diesel engine of compact construction operable without a scavenging pump and having a minimum of moving parts, thus insuring trouble-free operation.

A further important object of my invention is to provide a Diesel engine for aeroplanes in which the dead space is adjustable during flight whereby higher efllciency may be obtained' on high altitudes.

An ancillary object to the above is to provide a combustion engine of such small cross section that it may be built into the wings of an aeroplane whereby the air resistance of same may be greatly reduced.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a simplified and more efiicient scavenging system for a two-cycle engine of the opposed piston type whereby greatly simplified construction inder with a partial section through same,

Figure 3 is a transverse section through the cylinder taken along line 33, in Figure 2,

Figure 4 is a section through the guide taken along line 44, in Figure 2,

Figure 5 illustrates a section through a substitute construction of the end bearing of a connecting rod,

Figure 6 shows a plan view of the construction shown in Figure 5, I

Figure '7 illustrates anelevation of anengin embodying my invention where the crank shaft has been placed on the top of the cylinder, and,

.Figure 8 illustrates a plan view of the double crank of the engine shown in Figure '7, taken along line 8-8.

-In the drawings, wherein for the purpose of illustration are shown two preferred embodiments of my invention, the numeral l0 designates the cylinder with the two opposed pistons I I having similar piston rods l2, guides l3, connecting rods l4, and crank rods l5 and I6 through which the power delivered by the piston ll may be transferred to the double crank I! (see Figure 8) which is an integral part of the crank shaft la.

The cylinder i0 is shown in a horizontal position v but it is obvious that same may equally well be arranged either vertically or in any other suitable position without deviating from the object as from the cockpit of a plane, may be of the well known worm-screw type and is not shown.

The engine shown in Figure 1 is mounted upon the base 22 with the crank shaft l8 mounted in bearings 24 attached to the base 22. The flywheel, 25 is mounted on the crank shaft l 8 in the customary manner. For simplicity in the illustrations, only a single cylinder engine has'been shown, but it is obvious to one skilled in the art such a way that the piston rods l2 are connected to bearings 21 of rods 26 and not to the end bearg ings of same as shown in Figure 1. The end bearings, 28 connect to the crank rods l6 which are the same as those shown in Figure 1. The cylinder l0 and the operation of the engine shown in Figure 7 are exactly identical to what has been described supra for the engine shown in Figure 1.

In the event that an adjustable dead space is not desired, the lower end of connecting rods l4 and 26 may be journalled as shown in Figures and 6. Instead of the type of rods l4 and 26, shown in Figures'l, 2 and '7, a round rod 29 may be used, the lower end of which has a ball socket bearing 30 which permits a free motion of the rod 29 in several directions.

The ends of piston rods l2 are provided with guides l3 which slide into guide tracks I31: and

As described, supra, it is possible, by adjusting shaft 23, to change the length of rod 2! and thereby adjust the dead space between pistons I I. In this manner it is possible to get full eniciency of the engine at high altitudes without the use of supercharges and an aeroplane equipped with this engine would have more power and less weight thereby making higher speeds and greater armament possible.

The operation of the power transmission from the piston rods [2 to the crank shaft i8 is obvious to one skilled in the art by a study of Figures l and '7. The connecting rods i4 and 26, respectively, are pivoted at one end to the link l9 and in the case of the engine shown in Figure 1, the other end of rod I4 is pivoted to the piston on one side of the piston in Figure 1, and connecting with the openings 33 on the other side of both pistons. The cylinder ID has, furthermore, exhaust openings 34 and the usual water cooling channels 35. It also has air intake valves 36 on both cylinder heads 3!. In Figure l, the pistons are shown in their end position, farthest away from one another, while in Figure 2, the pistons are shown in the other end position, nearest one another. In Figure l the air intake valves are shown closed while in Figure 2 they are shown open. The valves 36 are spring loaded and, therefore, self-closing. These valves 36 will only open when the suction on the inside becomes greater than the spring closing pressure. Figure 2 the exhaust ports 34 are shown open but it is obvious thatin actual practice these I ports would be provided with an exhaust pipe or even an exhaust muffler, according to the type of engine.

The operation of the scavenging system is as follows: When the pistons are on top, as shown in Figure 2, the air chamber between the pistons H and the cylinder heads 3! is filled with air through the valves 36 which are open to the outside on account of the suction exerted by the pistons moving away from the cylinder head. When the pistons begin to travel the other way, toward the cylinder head, the valves 36 are automatically closed and a compression of the air between the cylinders and the cylinder heads occurs. As soon as the right hand piston has progressed far enough it will cover up ports 32 and 34 and a further compression of the scavenging is continued until the right hand piston has reached its lower end position at which time it will again uncover ports 32. At the same time the scavenging air will have been compressed to a very considerable extent and simultaneously the left hand piston will have uncovered the exhaust ports 34. The compressed scavenging air from behind the right hand piston will, therefore, rush through ports 33 and into the cylinder through ports 32. The same thing will happen when the compressed scavenging air will rush through similar ports 33 and would also rush into the cylinder through ports 32. The compressed air blowing through ports 32 will efiectively clean the cylinder of any remaining exhaust gases which will be driven out through the open ports 34.

The operation of the engine, as a two-cycle Diesel is obvious from the above. The fuel injection occurs through the usual injection valve 31, see Figure 3, and due to the high compression between pistons II, the fuel will be ignited and an explosion will occur in the usual manner.

rod I 2. As the piston rod i2 makes a reciprocating movement the connecting rod i6 works as a lever on the fulcrum 20 which, however, is movable around the fulcrum 22, as illustrated in Figure 2. The crank rods "5 are pivoted at one end to the connecting rods it and work with the other end connected to the crank i? as shown in Figure 8.

It is to be understood that the form of my invention, herewith shown and described, is to be taken as a preferred example of the same and that various changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts may be resorted to, without departing from the spirit of my invention or the scope of the subjoined claims.

Having thus described my invention I claim:

1. In a combustion engine of the character described the combination of a cylinder; a base supporting said cylinder; two opposing pistons slidably mounted in said cylinder; a guide structure mounted at each end of said cylinder; 9. guide head mounted in each of said guide structures and slidably in same; a pair of piston rods connecting said pistons and said guide heads; a pair of connecting rods connected with one end to said guide heads; a pair of racks slidably mounted in said base; a pair of short levers pivoted to the outside end 'of said racks, the other end of said levers forming a fulcrum for the lower end of said connecting rods; a crank shaft journalled in bearings in said base, and a pair of crank rods connecting said connecting rods to said crank shaft.

2. In a combustion engine of the character described the combination of a cylinder; a base supporting said cylinder; two opposing pistons slidably mounted in said cylinder; a guide structure mounted at each end of said cylinder; a guide head mounted in each of said guide structures and slidable in same; a pair of piston rods connecting said .pistons and said guide heads; a pair of connecting rods connected with one end to said guide heads; a pair of racks slidably mounted in said base; a pair of gears pivoted in said base and being mesh with said racks; a pair of short levers pivoted to the outside end of said racks, the other end of said levers forming a fulcrum for the lower end of said connecting rods; a crank shaft journalled in bearings in said base, and a pair of crank rods connecting said connecting rods to said crank shaft.

3. In a combustion engine of the character described the combination of a cylinder; a base supporting said cylinder; two opposing pistons slidably mounted in said cylinder; a guide structure mounted at each end of said cylinder; a guide head mounted in each of said guide structures and slidable in same a pair of piston rods connecting said pistons and said guide heads; a pair of connecting rods connected with one end to said guide heads; a pair of racks slidably mounted in said base; a pair of gears pivoted in said base and being in mesh with said racks, and driving means whereby said gears may be turned to adjust the position of said racks; a pair of short levers pivoted to the outside end of said racks, the other end of said levers forming a fulcrum for the lower end of said connecting rods; a crank shaft, journalled in bearings in said base, and a pair of crank rods connecting said connecting rods to said crank shaft.

4. In a combustion engine of the character described the combination of a cylinder; a base supporting said cylinder; two opposing pistons slidably mounted in said cylinder; a guide structure mounted at each end of said cylinder; a guide head mounted in each of said structures, a'pair of piston rods connecting said pistons and said guide heads; a crank shaft journalled in bearings supported on the top of said cylinder; a pair of crank rods connected to said crank shaft; a pair of racks slidably mounted in said base; a pair of levers pivoted with one end to the outside end of said racks, and a pair of connecting rods pivoted at 25 p I their upper ends to said crank rods and pivoted at their lower ends to said levers, and connected at a third point to the ends of said piston rods, substantially as shown in the drawings.-

.5. In a combustion engine of the character described the combination of a cylinder; 9. base supportins, said cylinder; two opposing pistons slidably mounted in said cylinder; a guide structure mounted at each end of said cylinder; a guide head mounted in each of said structures, a pair of piston rods connecting said pistons and said guide heads; a crank shaft joumalled in bearings supported on the top of said cylinder; 9. pair of crank rods connected to said crank shaft; a pair of racks slidably mounted in said base; and means whereby said racks may be adjusted in their position relative to said base; a pair of levers pivoted with one end to the outside end of said racks, and a pair of connecting rods pivoted at their upper ends to said crank rods and pivoted at their lower ends to said levers, and connected at a third point to the ends of said piston rods, substantially as shown in the drawings.

ALF SCHIRbDER. 

